# Chibougamau

Chibougamau (French pronunciation:) is the largest town in Nord-du-Québec, central Quebec, Canada. Located on Lake Gilman, it has a population of 7,233 people (2021 Canadian census). Chibougamau is surrounded by, but not part of, the local municipality of Eeyou Istchee James Bay.
Its remoteness from Lac Saint-Jean (over 200 km (120 mi) south-east) and Abitibi-Témiscamingue (over 250 km (160 mi) south-west) areas causes Chibougamau to provide services for a few smaller communities surrounding it (Mistissini, Oujé-Bougoumou, and Chapais) and for the regional resource-based industries. Despite Chibougamau's remoteness, it is only about as far north as Winnipeg and is south of any part of the mainland of England.
Nearby is Lac Aux Dorés, which is fed by the Chibougamau River from the larger Chibougamau Lake after which the town was named. Chibougamau means "gathering place" in the Cree language. The neighbouring Cree village of Oujé-Bougoumou has the same name with a more traditional Cree spelling.
The area surrounding Lake Gilman is Obalski Regional Park. Its many amenities include a beach, pier, picnic tables, and cabins. The many trails allow for hiking, cycling, cross-country skiing, or even snowmobiling through the park's boreal forest.
Access to the town is by Route 167 from Lac Saint-Jean and by Route 113 from Lebel-sur-Quévillon. Chibougamau/Chapais Airport is along Route 113, about halfway to Chapais.

## History

The area has long been part of the Cree territory. It was in the early 17th century that French explorers and traders, including Charles Albanel in 1671, came to the Lake Chibougamau area. However, no permanent European settlements were established at that time.
Only in the late 19th century would the area attract the interest of mining prospectors. When gold was discovered in 1903, there were periods of intense exploration. The difficulty of access caused no lasting development to take place at the time. Not until 1949 was copper first exploited, with the opening of a multi-metallic mine in the area, and a permanent community was established in 1952. Chibougamau started out as a company town but soon afterward, in 1954, it was incorporated as a municipality. Many mines have exploited the area since. While still thought of as a mining town, Chibougamau is now also the centre of a large logging and sawmill industry.
From 1962 to 1988, the Royal Canadian Air Force operated CFS Chibougamau, a radar station in Chibougamau that was part of the Pinetree Line. The complex has now been transformed into a golf complex and an office for a mining company.
Since December 2001, the mayor of Chibougamau has been also on the municipal council of Municipality of Baie-James.
The city is home to an annual "Folies frettes" festival ("Cold Follies") and a snowmobile rally.

## Demographics

In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Chibougamau had a population of 7,233 living in 3190 of its 3,557 total private dwellings, a change of -3.6% from its 2016 population of 7,504. With a land area of 694.87 km$^2$ (268.29 sq mi), it had a population density of 10.4/km$^2$ (27.0/sq mi) in 2021.
The median age is 40.8, as opposed to 41.6 for all of Canada. French was the mother tongue of 92.5% of residents in 2021. The next most common mother tongues were English at 3.0%, followed by Cree-Innu languages at 1.6%. A small number (0.9%) reported both English and French as their first language. Additionally there were 0.2% who reported both French and a non-official language as their mother tongue.
As of 2021, Indigenous peoples, primarily First Nations and some Métis, comprised 7.8% of the population and visible minorities contributed 3.9%. The largest visible minority groups in Chibougamau are Black (1.5%), Filipino (1.1%), and Arab (0.8%). The region is home to 555 recent immigrants (i.e. those arriving between 2016 and 2021).
In 2021, 67.7% of the population identified as Catholic, while 22.8% said they had no religious affiliation. Pentecostals were the largest religious minority, at 1.3% of the population, while Muslims were the largest non-Christian religious minority, making up 0.8% of the population.
Counting both single and multiple responses, the most commonly identified ethnocultural ancestries were:
| Ethnic origin | 2021 |
| Canadian | 33.8% |
| French | 22.1% |
| Québécois | 16.6% |
| French Canadian | 10.7% |
| First Nations | 4.4% |
| Cree | 4.2% |
| Irish | 3.9% |
| Italian | 1.3% |
| Métis | 1.2% |
| Filipino | 1.1% |
(Percentages may total more than 100% due to rounding and multiple responses).
Visible minority and Indigenous population (2021 Canadian census) :
| Population group | Population group | Population | % of total population |
| White | White | 6,310 | 88.3% |
| Visible minority group | South Asian | 0 | 0% |
| Visible minority group | Chinese | 25 | 0.3% |
| Visible minority group | Black | 110 | 1.5% |
| Visible minority group | Filipino | 80 | 1.1% |
| Visible minority group | Arab | 55 | 0.8% |
| Visible minority group | Latin American | 0 | 0% |
| Visible minority group | Southeast Asian | 0 | 0% |
| Visible minority group | West Asian | 0 | 0% |
| Visible minority group | Korean | 0 | 0% |
| Visible minority group | Japanese | 0 | 0% |
| Visible minority group | Visible minority, n.i.e. | 0 | 0% |
| Visible minority group | Multiple visible minority | 0 | 0% |
| Total visible minority population | Total visible minority population | 280 | 3.9% |
| Indigenous group | First Nations | 350 | 4.9% |
| Indigenous group | Métis | 170 | 2.4% |
| Indigenous group | Inuit | 0 | 0% |
| Indigenous group | Indigenous, n.i.e. | 10 | 0.1% |
| Indigenous group | Multiple Indigenous identity | 30 | 0.4% |
| Total Indigenous population | Total Indigenous population | 560 | 7.8% |
| Total population | Total population | 7,150 | 100% |

## Education

French-language schools in Chibougamau, past and present, are:
* École Bon-Pasteur
* École Vatican II
* École Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire
* École La Porte-du-Nord
* École Vinette (closed 1994)
* Centre de formation professionnelle de la Baie-James
* Centre d'études collégiales Chibougamau
The English-language school is MacLean Memorial School. formerly Chibougamau Protestant School. There also used to be a Catholic English-language school called Holy Family School.

## Climate

Chibougamau has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb), bordering very closely on a subarctic climate. Winters are long, very cold, and very snowy with a January high of −12.7 °C (9.1 °F) and a low of −24.1 °C (−11.4 °F). Summers are warm though short with a July high of 22.9 °C (73.2 °F) and a low of 10.2 °C (50.4 °F). The average temperature for the year is 0.4 °C (32.7 °F) (1991-2020), an increase of 0.2 °C (0.36 °F) from 1981-2010. Overall precipitation is high for such a cold climate with an average annual precipitation of 995.8 mm (39.20 in) and 312.9 cm (123.2 in) of snow per season. Precipitation is significant year-round, though February through April are drier.
Climate data for Chapais WMO ID: 71824; climate ID: 7091299; coordinates 49°49′21″N 74°58′31″W﻿ / ﻿49.82250°N 74.97528°W﻿ / 49.82250; -74.97528﻿ (Chapais); elevation: 381.1 m (1,250 ft) and Chapais 2; climate ID: 7091305; coordinates 49°47′N 74°51′W﻿ / ﻿49.783°N 74.850°W﻿ / 49.783; -74.850﻿ (Chapais 2); elevation: 396.2 m (1,300 ft); 1991–2020 normals (precipitation normals from 1981-2010) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high humidex | 6.0 | 5.9 | 22.5 | 24.1 | 37.4 | 39.2 | 37.7 | 40.3 | 38.5 | 28.7 | 18.8 | 8.6 | 40.3 |
| Record high °C (°F) | 8.5 (47.3) | 9.0 (48.2) | 22.5 (72.5) | 28.0 (82.4) | 34.1 (93.4) | 35.0 (95.0) | 35.0 (95.0) | 33.3 (91.9) | 29.9 (85.8) | 24.8 (76.6) | 17.8 (64.0) | 11.0 (51.8) | 35.0 (95.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −12.7 (9.1) | −10.2 (13.6) | −3.0 (26.6) | 5.1 (41.2) | 14.7 (58.5) | 21.2 (70.2) | 22.9 (73.2) | 21.0 (69.8) | 15.9 (60.6) | 7.3 (45.1) | −1.1 (30.0) | −8.4 (16.9) | 6.1 (43.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −18.5 (−1.3) | −16.6 (2.1) | −9.9 (14.2) | −1.0 (30.2) | 8.1 (46.6) | 14.4 (57.9) | 16.6 (61.9) | 15.1 (59.2) | 10.4 (50.7) | 3.4 (38.1) | −4.5 (23.9) | −13.0 (8.6) | 0.4 (32.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −24.1 (−11.4) | −23.0 (−9.4) | −16.7 (1.9) | −7.0 (19.4) | 1.4 (34.5) | 7.5 (45.5) | 10.2 (50.4) | 9.2 (48.6) | 4.8 (40.6) | −0.5 (31.1) | −8.0 (17.6) | −17.6 (0.3) | −5.3 (22.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −43.3 (−45.9) | −42.8 (−45.0) | −40.9 (−41.6) | −28.9 (−20.0) | −16.9 (1.6) | −5.6 (21.9) | −0.7 (30.7) | −2.2 (28.0) | −7.3 (18.9) | −17.2 (1.0) | −30.0 (−22.0) | −42.0 (−43.6) | −43.3 (−45.9) |
| Record low wind chill | −50.0 | −50.0 | −48.7 | −33.5 | −16.3 | −6.6 | −1.3 | −2.8 | −8.8 | −19.8 | −30.7 | −48.6 | −50.0 |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 61.9 (2.44) | 39.4 (1.55) | 50.3 (1.98) | 56.6 (2.23) | 82.4 (3.24) | 100.1 (3.94) | 124.3 (4.89) | 100.2 (3.94) | 129.7 (5.11) | 93.9 (3.70) | 93.2 (3.67) | 63.5 (2.50) | 995.8 (39.20) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 3.2 (0.13) | 2.4 (0.09) | 8.8 (0.35) | 28.7 (1.13) | 75.5 (2.97) | 100.1 (3.94) | 124.3 (4.89) | 100.2 (3.94) | 128.6 (5.06) | 70.9 (2.79) | 36.7 (1.44) | 5.0 (0.20) | 684.5 (26.95) |
| Average snowfall cm (inches) | 58.8 (23.1) | 37.0 (14.6) | 41.6 (16.4) | 29.5 (11.6) | 6.9 (2.7) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 1.2 (0.5) | 23.0 (9.1) | 56.5 (22.2) | 58.5 (23.0) | 312.9 (123.2) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 18.1 | 13.6 | 12.1 | 12.3 | 14.8 | 16.3 | 17.4 | 17.1 | 20.2 | 19.8 | 19.9 | 19.3 | 200.9 |
| Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 0.55 | 1.1 | 2.4 | 6.7 | 13.6 | 16.3 | 17.4 | 17.1 | 20.1 | 14.5 | 6.1 | 1.3 | 117.15 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 18.0 | 12.9 | 10.4 | 7.9 | 2.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.47 | 7.4 | 16.1 | 18.5 | 94.17 |
| Average relative humidity (%) (at 1500 LST) | 77.2 | 67.7 | 52.8 | 52.1 | 45.4 | 49.8 | 56.3 | 60.9 | 64.6 | 74.4 | 83.5 | 83.8 | 64.0 |
| Source: Environment and Climate Change Canada, precipitation and precipitation days, ||||||||||||||